Ironing board

ABSTRACT

An ironing board includes a heat-resistant ironing board cover which can be placed thereon and includes elastic padding. The inventive ironing board includes a peripheral edge which projects past the surface of the ironing board and holds the padding in place.

TECHNICAL AREA

Ironing boards are generally constructed from a metal grid on which aheat-resistant ironing board cover having an elastic padding is placed.The ironing board cover and padding are often separate parts. Thepadding is loosely placed on the ironing board, and the heat-resistantcover is attached to the ironing board using a peripheral cord or viarubber bands. Both the cover and the elastic padding may be displacedwith respect to one another during ironing and then form folds which aretransferred to the object to be ironed during the ironing process.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

To remedy this situation, ironing board covers have become known inwhich the elastic padding is directly bonded to the cover by gluing orother methods. European Patent Application EP 0 043 700 A1 describessuch an option. To prevent the cover provided with the padding fromshifting on the ironing board, a glue is applied to the padding,resulting in the padding being glued to the ironing board when the coveris subjected to heat and pressure, for example, by the iron.

It has been found, however, that such a procedure is not veryadvantageous, because the padding is bonded to the ironing board toostrongly, making the replacement of the ironing board cover particularlydifficult. Therefore, materials have been developed for the paddingwhich provide bonding to the ironing board, but do not adhere in such away that the padding cannot be removed from the ironing board. Such anoption is described in GB 2 116 216 A.

ILLUSTRATION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide an ironing boardhaving a heat-resistant ironing board cover and elastic padding in sucha way that said parts remain in a predefined position with respect toone another so that undesirable folds are not formed and the replacementof the individual parts is possible.

This object is achieved according to the present invention by an ironingboard having a heat-resistant ironing board cover placeable thereonincluding an elastic padding in that the ironing board has an edgestanding out over its surface and holding the padding in an unshiftablemanner. The padding is held in an unshiftable manner by the edge. Theironing board cover may be placed on the padding and attached to theironing board using fastening elements known per se. However, thepadding is preferably directly bonded to the ironing board cover by alamination process, either by gluing or via other options.

The padding may be designed such that it is enclosed by the edge of theironing board. In this way it rests in an unshiftable manner on theironing board. However, the bottom of the padding is preferably providedwith a peripheral groove which encloses the edge of the ironing board.It is pulled over the edge of the ironing board using this groove. Thisprovides very accurate attachment of the padding to the ironing board.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, the padding may beprovided with a bulge which engages with the ironing board edge frombehind. This further reinforces the attachment of the padding to theironing board.

To allow existing ironing boards to be equipped with the novel ironingboard cover and padding, the edge may also be designed as a separateelement attachable to the ironing board. The edge is then provided witha peripheral section corresponding to the contour of the ironing boardand enclosing the edge of the ironing board, so that it may be placed onthe ironing board in a fixed manner. In general, it is advantageous ifthe edge stands out over the ironing board surface 0.2 to 5 cm,preferably 0.5 to 2 cm. The edge may have a tapered design to facilitateinstallation of the padding on the edge. The base of the tapered edgemay have a width of 0.1 to 1.5 cm depending on the size of the ironingboard.

To achieve good ironing results, the padding is preferably manufacturedfrom an intrinsically rigid hard foam. This is particularly advantageousif the padding has a greater than normal thickness.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The appended drawing describes the present invention in more detail onthe basis of two exemplary embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows a section of an ironing board having an ironing boardcover, including an elastic padding, installed on it;

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged side section of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a partial section of an edge, which may be installedseparately on an ironing board, and

FIG. 4 shows a top view of an ironing board having an edge installed onit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal section of an ironing board 1 having ironingboard cover 2 and elastic padding 3. Longitudinal strips 20 and fold-outlegs 21 and 22 are attached to ironing board 1. Ironing board 1 is madeof expanded metal. The contour of the ironing board corresponds to thestandards normally used today. Ironing board 1 is provided withperipheral edge 4, which holds padding 3. In the selected example,bottom 5 of padding 3 is provided with a peripheral groove 6, whosecross section corresponds to the outer contour of edge 4. Padding 3 isthus installed on edge 4 of ironing board 1 via its groove. Padding 3 isthus securely held in the horizontal plane of the board. To reinforcethis attachment and also to prevent padding 3 from lifting from theironing board, padding 3 has a peripheral bulge 7, via which it engageswith edge 8 of ironing board 1 from behind.

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the left side of ironing board 1 ofFIG. 1. Edge 4 is directly attached to ironing board 1. It stands outover surface 9 of ironing board 1 and has a tapered design. The heightof the edge protruding over surface 9 is approximately 2 cm. The base inthis example is 0.8 mm. Padding 3 is made of an intrinsically rigid hardfoam.

FIG. 3 shows the portion of an edge 14 partially sectioned; it isdesigned as a separate element and may be installed on an ironing boardhaving a corresponding contour. It is advantageous if edge 14 isprovided with a peripheral section 15 corresponding to the contour ofironing board 11 and enclosing edge 8 of ironing board 11. The design ofedge 14 is otherwise comparable with edge 4 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and2. Edge 14 and ironing board 11 are manufactured separately and edge 14is form-fittingly pushed onto ironing board 11 as shown in FIG. 4. Afterattaching edge 14 to ironing board 11, a padding 3 having ironing boardcover 2 as described for FIGS. 1 and 2 may be installed on ironing board1.

1-10. (canceled)
 11. An ironing board on which an ironing board cover having an elastic padding is installable, the ironing board comprising: a board portion having a surface; and a peripheral edge standing out over the surface and configured to hold the elastic padding in an unshiftable manner.
 12. The ironing board as recited in claim 11, wherein the padding is enclosed by the edge of the ironing board.
 13. The ironing board as recited in claim 11, wherein a bottom surface of the padding includes a peripheral groove enclosing the peripheral edge of the ironing board.
 14. The ironing board as recited in claim 13, wherein the board portion includes an outer edge and the padding has a bulge engaging with the outer edge from behind.
 15. The ironing board as recited in claim 14, wherein the peripheral edge is a separate element from the board portion and attachable to the board portion.
 16. The ironing board as recited in claim 15, wherein the peripheral edge includes a peripheral section corresponding to a contour of the board portion and enclosing the outer edge.
 17. The ironing board as recited in claim 11, wherein the peripheral edge stands out 0.2 to 5 cm over the surface.
 18. The ironing board as recited in claim 11, wherein the peripheral edge stands out 0.5 to 2 cm, out over the surface.
 19. The ironing board as recited in claim 11, wherein the peripheral edge has a tapered shape.
 20. The ironing board as recited in claim 19, wherein a base of the tapered shape is 0.1 to 1.5 cm wide.
 21. The ironing board as recited in claim 11, wherein the padding includes an intrinsically rigid hard foam. 